Recent Viewings, Part 2

[lester1/2jr]

Zombie - It's kind of 70's style 80's. A 70's scenario, but everyone's hair is a little shorter and they are slightly more toned.

[zombie no.one]

I do feel like different eras can be visually ID'd more by the hairstyles than the clothes, even

[M.10rda]

LA OTRA aka THE OTHER aka THE OTHER ONE (1946):
Yeah, I'm a real healthy, functional guy w/ great judgment, so when I watch a movie that I really dislike (such as THE BOY AND THE FOG) and then realize I've already DL'd another film by the same director, naturally I don't cut my losses and delete the darn thing - instead I immediately double down and watch it. Well, THE OTHER has a better reputation than Roberto Gavaldon's TBATF, and - it is better, though I would classify it as Okay/Fine rather than Outstanding or something. The hand-drawn opening titles appear w/ eerie music and give one the impression they're in for some spooky, cosmic $#!t... though really THE OTHER is just an earthbound suspense-y melodrama w/ light undertones of fate or destiny or whatevs, not unlike a lot of Anglo noirs.

Something else about the opening credits that gave me pause - the name "Delores Del Rio", highly irritating star of THE BOY AND THE FOG. Delores is 7 years younger here, looks pretty good in some snazzy designer outfits, and is much less annoying to endure for the length of a feature.  Both her performance and Gavaldon's direction is (like in the later film) sometimes way off the meter into hysterical territory - which, in the case of this material, would probably be okay or even good, as THE OTHER keeps teasing that it will turn into a full-blown psycho-thriller. But, it doesn't, which is ultimately disappointing.

I was with this one for a good bit. Del Rio plays identical sisters - one a recently widowed wealthy dame, the other working class and anti-social though w/ a secret chip on her shoulder. "They" play several early scenes opposite "one another" - usually in cut-aways but in a couple of impressive instances, "both" onscreen in the same shot. I was getting pretty decent DEAD RINGERS vibes for half an hour, and then there's a twist that sends THE OTHER more into the terrain of SUTURE, the exceptional 1993 neo-noir by Scott McGehee and David Siegel. An even better twist about two-thirds of the way through THE OTHER amplifies the SUTURE tingles....... but then THE OTHER just kinda' lets out a blank fart in its final 20-25 minutes. 

3/5    Nice German expressionist photography in spots (which seems quite popular w/ Mexican filmmakers of the 30s-50s) and I didn't find it actively objectionable as I did the other Gavaldon flick. But if this is his best movie (as many suggest) and thus the foundation for him being Mexico's finest director....... nah, son.

[FatFreddysCat]

"John Candy: I Like Me" (2025)
Colin Hanks (Tom's son) directed this documentary about the life and career of the late John Candy, the Canadian comic actor who took Hollywood by storm in the 80s. Clips from his film catalog and commentary from co-stars like Dan Aykroyd, Tom Hanks, Eugene Levy, Catherine O'Hara, Macaulay Culkin, and many more paint a portrait of a well loved guy who unfortunately struggled with anxiety off screen. A touching trip down memory lane.

[chainsaw midget]

Siren X (2008)

I've seen the movie listed as a horror/thriller or erotic horror but really it's just softcore porn.  The movie is 60 minutes long and has six sex scenes, one of them feeling like it goes on for ten minutes. 

The plot is barely there and calling the characters one-note gives them credit for about half a note too much. 

The idea is that three almost completely interchangeable men, and a woman go to a lake where men have been reported missing to film an episode for their show.  The show is supposed to be one of those investigate the unknown type things where they look for ghosts and aliens and stuff like that.  However, the show is called "Minishirt Adventures" and seems more interested in looking up the female cast members skirt than anything. 
Oh, and she does not want to be there.  She really really does not want to be there. 

Mysterious lady has sex with one of the guys and he dies horribly.  They all run, escape back to civilization and keep going on with the show when she appears to the two men seperatly. 

There's one scene where the girl cast members is in her underwear singing karaoke in their hotel room, when mysterious woman appears to him and they start making out.  When he opens his eyes he realizes that he's actually been making out with his girlfriend and not ghost girl and he freaks out, saying "You're not her!" and bashes her face in before drowning her in a tub.

Then both men go back to the house in the woods, each one has sex with the girl (one at a time mind you) and they die, but only after she reveals she has to drain men's life essence and sperm to live.

It's really not much of a movie.  The girl ghost girl herself is really attractive and takes her clothes off  alot, but the sex itself really isn't that erotic or anything. 

[Rev. Powell]

A USEFUL GHOST (2025): A man falls for a vacuum cleaner possessed by the ghost of his dead wife. The beginning of this absurdist-realism feature presents itself as a whimsical romantic comedy, but the script reveals darker purposes when the 2010 Thai military crackdown that killed almost 200 people becomes a plot point. 3.5/5.

[Dr. Whom]

A USEFUL GHOST (2025): A man falls for a vacuum cleaner possessed by the ghost of his dead wife. The beginning of this absurdist-realism feature presents itself as a whimsical romantic comedy, but the script reveals darker purposes when the 2010 Thai military crackdown that killed almost 200 people becomes a plot point. 3.5/5.

I have been wondering about that one

[Rev. Powell]

A USEFUL GHOST (2025): A man falls for a vacuum cleaner possessed by the ghost of his dead wife. The beginning of this absurdist-realism feature presents itself as a whimsical romantic comedy, but the script reveals darker purposes when the 2010 Thai military crackdown that killed almost 200 people becomes a plot point. 3.5/5.

I have been wondering about that one

Recommended to art-house audiences who love eccentricity.

[lester1/2jr]

Baby Sister (1983) - I used to take a martial arts class that involved a lot of two person drills. For a while, I for some reason kept getting paired with Sonja, a beautiful Spanish kickboxer. It was the best. I imagine the guy in this movie who has an affair with then 19 year old Phoebe Cates must have felt the same way about going in to work. Much like "Summer Girl", which I watched the previous night which was also from 1983, this is kind of "70's style 80's". It still feels like the late 70's, but they go jogging and take aerobics.

Phoebe Cates arrives in LA and immediately her older sister's boyfriend starts to make some internal calculations. He is actually sort of charming in a dorky/mature/ intelligent sort of way, but he's had enough of the older sister and her art gallery career. It's very soap opera ish in places, especially the end, and would have been unbearable if it was anyone else but the Pheebster as the star.

Not as campy as Summer Girl, tubi's print isn't that great. They are both utterly forgotten, insignificant movies that I nonetheless enjoyed quite a bit. Cates is hesitant about dating a 31 year old guy, but in real life she got married at 25 to a 41 year old: actor Kevin Cline.

4.5 /5